The Butcher

One of Claude Chabrol’s most acclaimed psychological thrillers and a must-see of French Cinema, Le Boucher focuses on the unlikely bond between Hélène (Stéphane Audran), the sophisticated, beautiful headmistress of a Dordogne village school, and local butcher Popaul (Jean Yanne), a former soldier scarred by his experience of conflict in France’s colonial wars. As their friendship deepens, serial murders of young women occur around the village. Suspicion falls on Popaul, and Hélène is torn between her growing affection for him and the unsettling possibility that he might be the killer. Underscored by Pierre Jansen’s haunting atonal music, the film’s slow-building tension and moral ambiguity create an unsettling atmosphere all the way to the uncanny finale. Ultimately, Le Boucher is a meditation on the nature of the darkness lurking beneath a seemingly peaceful community. Chabrol, Audran and Jean Yanne are all at the peak of their powers.